Common Ground introduces first Malaysian venue outside of Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia’s largest homegrown coworking space picks George Town, Penang
for its first Malaysian location outside of Kuala Lumpur
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Malaysia’s largest coworking space, Common Ground, launched its first Penang venue today. The event was officiated by Penang’s Chief Minister, YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow. This brings the homegrown coworking brand’s total number of venues to 14, inclusive of their outlets both domestically and abroad. Their latest venture into the Northern region of Malaysia aims to propel the growth of Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Penang by providing the community with access to a global business network and powerful infrastructure.
“Over the past decade, Malaysia has rapidly grown to become one of Southeast Asia’s most diverse and engaged business hubs. Aside from Kuala Lumpur, Penang’s emerging infrastructure and business market have rendered the city more than well-equipped in becoming the nation’s next most sought-after business nexus. We at Common Ground feel that the market is at the right climate to begin introducing our coworking lifestyle that is built on community and synergy,” said Juhn Teo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of Common Ground.
Common Ground Penang is developed in a joint venture with property developer, the Belleview Group. They share a common goal – to provide a collaborative space for the business community to congregate, foster productivity, share resources, and meet goals. Located on the second floor of Moulmein Rise Shoppes in George Town, the 18,000 square foot coworking space will be able to accommodate over 250 entrepreneurs at any given time.
L-R: Erman Akinci, Co-Founder of Common Ground; Juhn Teo, Co-Founder of Common Ground; YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow, Chief Minister of Penang; Dato’ Sonny Ho, Managing Director of Belleview Group; YB Chris Lee Chun Kit, State Assemblyman for Pulau Tikus, Penang; and Yvonne Lee, Country Manager of Common Ground Malaysia celebrating the launch of Common Ground’s first Malaysian venue outside of the Klang Valley
Juhn Teo, Co-Founder of Common Ground explaining Common Ground’s coworking lifestyle that is built on community and synergy to YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow, Chief Minister of Penang.
Juhn added, “At Common Ground, we host over 1,800 members across various industries, spanning from innovative sectors like technology and lifestyle, to societal cornerstones like law and finance. We are home to many startups, but we also house larger corporations who have decided to establish their teams at Common Ground – like Petronas and Amazon, for example.”
Epicentres such as Penang have become well-equipped to contend with other regions as the nation’s next most sought-after business hub. Penang’s Chief Minister, YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow, recently announced that Penang is looking to grow its global business services (GBS) industry by constructing more office spaces to meet market demand.
“In the past few years, we have seen Malaysia’s tech and startup ecosystem thrive rapidly, paving the way for Penang to become the next most innovative and startup-friendly city. Penang has a number of multinational corporations (MNCs) who have established their offices on the island, and recently there has been a surge in SMEs setting up here – with about 67,000 SMEs in Penang alone, making it one of the top 5 states with the highest number of SMEs in Malaysia. In an effort to solidify Penang as a Malaysian nexus for innovation and creativity, we have established the Industry 4.0 (I4) Seed Fund and Penang STEM. These initiatives aim to spur the tech startup ecosystem, creating the platform for talent to drive and support the digital economy, as well as the 4th Industrial Revolution. We’re glad that Common Ground shares in our vision for the business community here in Penang and are providing the perfect collaborative launch pad for these startups and businesses,” said Chief Minister of Penang, YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow.
Dato’ Sonny Ho, Managing Director of Belleview Group, expressed that the collaboration between the property developer and Common Ground comes at the right time for their newest development, Moulmein Rise Shoppes. “The partnership with Common Ground is in line with Belleview Group’s principles, which aim to contribute to Penang’s social and economic growth. With Common Ground setting up their venue here in Moulmein Rise Shoppes, we hope to aid in facilitating innovation here in our community,” said Dato’ Sonny Ho.
Nestled in the heart of historic Pulau Tikus, also known as the commercial district just outside of the George Town City Centre, Moulmein Rise Shoppes is surrounded by retail landmarks such as Gurney Plaza and Gurney Paragon, in addition to a circle of hotels and accommodations. The property sits in one of Penang’s most affluent neighbourhoods, bridging together a two-level boutique shopping mall coupled with 84 luxury suites just above. The mall is strategically located to benefit from a steady stream of retail traffic from the residents living in the Moulmein Rise Luxury Suites, as well as surrounding neighbourhoods.
YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow, Chief Minister of Penang shaking hands with Juhn Teo, Co-Founder of Common Ground.
In true alignment with the rest of the Common Ground venues, Common Ground Penang houses a café, event space, board rooms, several smaller meeting rooms, quiet lounges, call booths, and offers more than 50 private offices, and 60 hot and fixed desks. The workspace is built to spaciously accommodate a multitude of businesses and is conveniently situated amongst vibrant and established retail stores which comprise the boutique shopping mall. The island venue is also strongly committed to fostering a diverse and dynamic community for its members through its local partnerships and weekly events.
What truly makes Common Ground stand out from other coworking spaces is its powerful business and social network that functions as a support system for all its members. From business seminars to self-improvement workshops, and from professional networking panels to social mixers, Common Ground is committed to celebrating the diverse and unique interests of their individuals beyond the workspace. In addition to this, Common Ground curates a myriad of lifestyle and professional partnerships in order to secure exclusive benefits for its members. These initiatives aim to strengthen and connect the Common Ground community, as well as to add local value to the membership. Amongst the regional vendors offering benefits at the Penang location are ClassPass, Rising Ramen, Dear Dino, MEME Xpress, Witty Wick, Moulmein Gourmet, Tropics Eight Hotel, Hotel Jen by Shangri-La, and many more to come.
For more information on Common Ground, visit the website at http://www.commonground.work.
About Common Ground
Co-founded by Erman Akinci and Juhn Teo, Common Ground is Malaysia’s largest leading coworking space that prides itself on not just being a premium workspace, but also a synergetic and integrated coworking community. With the tagline “Ambition Lives Here”, Common Ground attracts a vibrant ecosystem of diverse and driven individuals across various industries.
The coworking space connects the community through a members portal and app, called the Ambition Engine, which serves as a social platform and business network. Aside from keeping members updated on weekly events and workshops, the members also benefit from the value-added services provided by Common Ground’s 200+ lifestyle and business partners – this includes free memberships from Fitness First, travel discounts with AirAsia MyCorporate, and much more.
Since launching in March 2017, the game-changing business has since acquired over 1,800 members across 11 venues in the Klang Valley (Damansara Heights, Mont Kiara, TTDI, Bukit Bintang, Ampang, KL Sentral, Mid Valley, Ara Damansara, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Petaling Jaya, Mutiara Damansara), one venue in Penang (George Town), and two more venues in the Philippines (Bonifacio, and Ortigas). On top of that, Common Ground expects to double its number of venues by the end of this year across Southeast Asia, further venturing into strategic locations, as well as continuing its expansion within Malaysia.
Each Common Ground venue houses a café, event space, board rooms, several smaller meeting rooms, quiet lounges, call booths, and three formats of standard workspace — hot desks, fixed desks, and private offices. In addition to these prime workspaces, Common Ground also offers Enterprise Solutions. Designed to power large teams of 50 or more, their solutions help corporations save on office space and operational costs. Companies can benefit from modern and fully-serviced satellite offices, swing spaces, or even main HQ’s, without the worry of long-term contracts or upfront costs impacting their cash flow. Not only will they get a dedicated space or floor to call their own, but they’ll also have access to the facilities at any Common Ground worldwide.
For more information on Common Ground, visit the website at http://www.commonground.work.
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